07.28.08
Posted in Beijing, Media/Internet, Olympics, Traffic and Infrastructure at 13:07 by SHTig
Here’s a funny email circulating around China this week. To appreciate it, you have to understand the obsession among some Chinese about double vs. single hooded eyelids, and that the traffic situation leading up to the Olympics in Beijing has frustrated and infuriated some drivers.
(SHTig translation)
Urgent Notice from the Beijing Traffic Administration Bureau
Although the implementation of even/odd license plates entering the city has greatly reduced congestion, the number of pedestrian traffic has increased substantially, adding to pressure on pubic transportation. Therefore, the Traffic Bureau is implementing measures as of July 25 for the area within the 6th ring road for single and double hooded eyelids. Single hooded eyelid people may enter the area on odd days. Double hooded eyelid people may enter the area on even days. Those with one singled hooded and one double hooded eyelid may enter only between the hours of midnight and 3am. We ask that all city residents arrange their schedules accordingly.
北京市交通管理局紧急通知……
7月20日实行单双号限行后流量大幅下降，但出行人流量降反升，公共交通压力加大。
为此，交管局决定，从7月25日起，
全市六环以内，市民实行单双眼皮限行措施，
单眼皮单日出行，
双眼皮双日出行，
一单一双只能夜晚0~3点出行。
望广大市民合理安排出行时间。
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07.15.08
Posted in Chinese Language at 19:05 by SHTig
I’ve been watching for the past two nights the “Haier Cup Inaugural Foreign Exchange Students in China Chinese Competition”, a new program on CCTV4 (10-11pm in China, from July 10-17 with the finals on July 18. There is a CCTV4 website about the program where you can view the bios of all the contestants and get more info about the program. A related article says there are 30 foreign contestants in total from 20 countries.
The Program
The format is that 4 foreigners compete individually on a stage with two Chinese hosts, a panel of 5 judges, and an audience. There are three parts to the competition. The first and easiest part is a self introduction of 1 minute. The next part is a 5 minute simulation where the contestant and a host pretend to be in a certain place like in a taxi or buying items in a grocery store. During this part the host throws in certain idiomatic expressions and sayings to try to confuse and trip up the contestant. And these are hard(!), more on that in a minute. The third part which I think is the most difficult but arguably easier than part 2 is where the contestant watches a short video and then talks about his or her “feeling” in response to the video. On the first night, the videos were about famous places in China, like the Yangzee River, Yellow Mountain (Huang Shan), etc. Last night the videos were about traditional Chinese craftsmanship.
Judging
After each contestant completes each part, they are awarded between 1 and 5 “lights” (打灯) from the judges. One light is given by default even if no judge actually thinks the contestant was succesful. The hosts choose a judge at random to comment on the contestant’s performance. If they choose a judge who gave a light, he usually says something encouraging to the contestant. But they also choose judges who don’t give lights, and some of the comments are harsh, i.e. “actually none of you performed well whatsoever”. At the end of the program, only 3 foreigners remain, with 1 cast off but told that they “might” be able to come back in a later round, so some how there seems to be a second chance for them. I assume the 3 survivors each night will compete again in a semi-final match.
What SHTig is saying
The show is hard, and the contestants clearly understand almost nothing that is being said to them. As a fellow Chinese language learner, it’s a sad thing to see (if not a tad redeeming). Some of the contestants are so out of it that they’re just babling about something only tangentially related, if at all related, to what the host/video is talking about.
When the camera pans to shots of the audience, you see some ear-to-ear grins from some folks. This means “it’s so fantastic and honoring and fun that foreigners can speak Chinese”. Others have a thick face with glossy eyes, which expresses “I have no idea what they are saying and I might be bored as well”. Then there are others with slight scowls. These are the ones who disturb me. Could they be thinking “why the hell are these bafoon foreigners up on a stage parading their awful Chinese around? Their Chinese is terrible and they are a disgrace.” It disturbs me because I can think ahead to one day in the future, when China is the superpower, and all the current niceties towards foreigners and their Chinese learning pursuits are turned upside down, i.e. the day when people are expected to know Mandarin well, and anything less is unacceptable. Listening to the critques from some of the judges I can also sense this sentiment. However, for now, the view in China as evidenced on this program is “it’s such an honor that these foreigners are learning Chinese language and culture.”
What the Chinese Blogs are Saying
A blogger named wushanshanmai has already posted his experience of watching the show in Chinese here (warning, he inexplicably splits his post describing this program with a young lady in her underwear… I am lobbying nator, Mul, ODB and uncleronald to let us do the same here on Truth from Facts). Anyway, I am delighted that wushanshanmai, who describes himself as “an authentic Chinese person” agrees that much of the content is difficult to understand. He is sympathetic to the foreign contestants, and pleased that they are studying.
Or maybe his concluding remark is his true intent:
坚决支持这样的文化推广工作！特别欢迎外国的美丽妹妹来学习中国文化，当然也欢迎”定居“中国的外国上门女婿！(I strongly support these types of efforts to promote Chinese culture! I especially welcome pretty foreign chicks to come study Chinese culture, of course I welcome them to “set up house” here and [I] can move in with them.)
Well, if he can arrange to send that girl in her underwear to us here at Truth From Facts, we might be able to find a foreign girl for him. Not that I, ODB, Mul or nator are available, but uncleronald may be interested…
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07.13.08
Posted in Food, Politics, Shanghai at 21:37 by SHTig
Have you ever noticed the “help wanted” signs in China, you know, the ones that say “wanted, female, ages 18-25″? These jobs invariably involve minor clerical or waitress type work. It’s more important that she be a certain height (often 160cm) than to have any formal schooling certificates.
Today I had lunch at the “Steak & Eggs” diner in Shanghai (the American-run restaurant that started in Beijing). There was a new waitress who was very polite, decent, and - most amazing for China - she hustled. I mean, she really moved swiftly around the two story dining room. Judging by her face she had to be at least 35 (though from behind she could pass for 22, ohhh Chinese women…). The main point was not how attentive she was, but that she was “old” for this line of work. It helps that the owners are an American-Chinese mix, I believe, and that they themselves are late middle age. That is, we’d expect less age discrimination in this set up. But it led me to come here to ask what has crossed my mind from time to time. What do these girls do after they hit 28 or so and leave their original job? Obviously some enter the throes of motherhood and homemaker, but what about the rest? What does a woman in China do who has no education beyond high school, doesn’t know English, and doesn’t have tangible job skills?
NATOR ADDS: Hotpoter kind of said it in the comments, but I’ll be more specific: they get married. An American woman in a similar situation would probably think marriage is her best option; the typical Chinese woman will be a lot poorer and thus more likely to look to marriage. Also, China remains very conservative about certain things, and marriage is one of them. (Though I’d add with more emphasis on “till death do us part” and less on ”to love and to cherish”.) And finally, Chinese women are increasingly outnumbered due to the combination of the one child policy and a traditional preference for males. More than ever before, China’s women will be able to “marry up”. So I think Hotpoter’s point is valid. Most of these women are going to want to get married, and they will get married, and they’ll have a better (financial) life than before.
I’m far more worried about China’s men with little education. What will these men–and there are already tens of millions of them–do when they get older and can’t even find a wife?
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07.08.08
Posted in Beijing, Money / Banks, Olympics, Rumors at 17:42 by SHTig
Who doesn’t love the feel of new money? On July 8, exactly one month before the start of the Olympic games, the People’s Bank of China issued 6 million 10 yuan notes. They are 29th Olympiad Commemorative notes (see pictures)
This article says that you can exchange old notes for new ones at any of China’s Big Four banks in Beijing, but that there may be problems doing so in other places. Why? “Because of the earthquake.” My initial scan of the Chinese blogs suggests that there are shortages in availability of these notes and that some cities don’t have any at all. Hoarding could take place. The picture in this story shows people in a long line waiting to exchange bank notes. Heaven help you if you have any real banking to do in China this week.
Of note, this is the only bill in circulation that does not have Mao Zedong’s image on it. From this I predict Mao will be largest fazed out of upcoming Chinese currency (but not eliminated). This is a very logical first step toward achieving that. It will also be interesting to see if a larger denomination Chinese note is brought into circulation. There have been rumors in the past of an RMB 500 note. The current top valued note is only RMB 100 (less than US$15), though personally I like that and don’t hope to see an RMB 500 note any time soon.
10 July - edited 60million to 6 million notes that were printed (600万). nator emailed me to point out that is only one bill per 200 people.
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07.01.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 17:31 by SHTig
You’ve heard it said that Chinese will surpass the US because they are willing to work so damn hard (for less money, under tougher circumstances, for the sake of national glory, etc.) Well, China will continue its ascent, but lets dispell this notion that the people here work so much harder than Americans or Europeans.
Evidence? A survey currently running on www.highpk.com is asking Chinese people whether people to choose their preference:
1. “work to live / overtime is basically a pressure that hides the enjoyment of life“(工作为了生活 — 加班根本就是一种压榨，剥夺了生活的乐趣)
2. “live to work — overtime is an expression of my hard work and is the elevator to success” (活着为了工作 — 加班是我努力工作的表现，是通往成功的阶梯).
Well, as of right now, with nearly 15,000 votes/comments in, a whopping 90% take option #1, that working is to support life but not more.
And living in China, I believe it. People here are not cramming every minute of the day to work harder and do better. Heck, even the designer of the story image took shortcuts. See how he mixed up the English with the Chinese in the picture above? “Work to live” and “live to work” are in the wrong places. Obviously that dude was not OTing to get his image done correctly.
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06.28.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 19:19 by SHTig
I haven’t taken to twitter yet. Anyway, I’m sitting in the “Axis” Lounge & Bar in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Singapore. The girl who greeted me at the entrance is Japanese, so I’m slightly wondering what’s up with the name of this place. But more interesting than that are Singapore’s F-15 fighters that are flying outside the window over the Singapore Harbour at this moment. Damn those things are fast, loud and amazing. And they’re pretty good assurances that the Malaysians and Indonesians won’t get any funny ideas.
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06.20.08
Posted in Media/Internet, Politics at 17:24 by SHTig
President HU Jintao went onto the People’s Net Powerful Nation Forum (人民网强国论坛) to answer some questions from China’s netizens. He only stayed to answer a few questions, telling netizens that he typically gets online in the morning to check domestic and international news. In the Chinese media’s typical provincial way, Hu was sure to say “The People’s Net Powerful Nation Forum is one of the sites that I must read on a regular basis”.
The only semi interesting question was whether he reads the massive amounts of comments from Chinese netizens. Hu said that yes they do, that national policy is formulated on what the people need and think, and that the net is one way to understand the people, so it is an important channel.
Good answer. So if you like to understand the people, Mr. Hu, I’d like to know why so many domestic and international websites are then blocked? Especially stuff about Teabet and Tiewon. Oh and porn too. Let me know next time you’re online and I’ll ask.
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06.19.08
Posted in Environment, Industry at 23:37 by SHTig
Last month I brought you analysis of China’s Oil Manipulation, arguing that China’s price controls for energy is one of the reasons for the elevated worldwide price. My fellow contributors Mul and Nator challenged me on this point, but a story out today that China will lift some fuel subsidies has led to a modest sell off of oil today. This shows at least oil traders agree with my earlier viewpoint.
From the China domestic standpoint, it will be interesting to see how this ripples through the marketplace. China is already under inflationary pressures, and if the economy at large is exposed to higher energy prices, this will exacerbate those pressures.
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06.18.08
Posted in Environment, Politics, USA at 20:38 by SHTig
John McCain says that the US has 21 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, and that exploration and drilling should be opened up in areas where a moratorium restricts disallows it (Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)). This is one of the ways he would respond to high energy prices in the US.
Well, it wouldn’t. And it’s a bad idea.
Bloomberg reported in January ‘08 that worldwide oil consumption is 88 million barrels a day. If you accept the rough math and oversimplification, and you’ll see that this means the US’ proven reserves could supply the world’s need for all of about 8 months.
Does that sound like a lot of oil to you? Does it sound like its worth ripping up ANWR for? And what would it accomplish?
I say it would serve to bring down the price of oil ever so slightly, ever so shortly. And it would the typical politics of ‘give it to me now and pretend there are no consequences.’ And when that oil runs dry quickly, the crisis will be deeper and energy prices higher, and Americans will still need to get off oil. I really hate that about high level American politics. (Obama/Deomcrats are just as bad or worse, his pandering theme this week in Wisconsin is “Change that Works for You“).
If McCain wants to be a leader on this issue, he should be focusing more on how to really bring energy alternatives to market quickly. And if those alternatives can’t be brought about quickly, then I’d like to see the US hold on to ANWR oil for a true rainy day. You know, it could get a lot worse than $4/gallon gas…
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06.02.08
Posted in Environment, Food, Law and Order at 17:45 by SHTig
Ever think you blogged about something, then went back to find your old post, only to see that you never wrote it? Well, a few months back, a regulation was issued in China that stores could no longer give out plastic bags for free. I was looking for my write up about it then, but it appears that was done in my imagination, or in one of my private love notes to nator. Anyway, the reason is because the cheap flimsy bags clog landfills and drains, etc. So now stores must charge for plastic bags, and they may not bundle the price into other merchandise, i.e. there must be a line item on the receipt. It went into effect on June 1, and sure enough, I had to drop 0.2 yuan (US 2.9 cents) for a bag. I think this is a good measure and support it.
NATOR ADDS: If they’re going to force a policy onto merchants, I’d rather they require that the bags be biodegradable.
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